Quarantine Discoveries

Friday night was a big night for me. I had been physically distanced from my quaran-team for more than two weeks due to travel. My Covid test was negative, and I had no symptoms. On Friday night I got to hug and kiss and be with my peeps in close proximity. I was so happy!

As I waited for them to arrive, I notice that I was energized. I felt healthy. I was resourced and well. How is it possible that I felt that good when physically distanced? I want to share with you how I did it in two installments. In this first one, I’ll share two joyful discoveries.

Discovery #1 – The Window

While in quarantine, my boyfriend asked if he could see me – even though we couldn’t be close. He suggested a socially distanced walk. Our habits are very snuggly so I worried about the weirdness of it. How would it be to only see him with a mask on – to not be able to hold him close? Would it wind up being sad?

That’s when I gave a second look at my window. I live in a studio apartment on the ground level of a courtyard apartment building. Here’s the window in the main room:

What if I were to come close to the window from the inside and he were to come close to the window from the outside? That would mean we could be face to face with each other without masks. I could look into his eyes and be just an inch or two away while also being safe.

I suggested the idea, and he was game. I figured we could use our phones as walkie talkies or just commune in silence. The result? It was so lovely! I got to fill my eyes up with him. It was a great start to our distanced date. Next, the walk.

Discovery #2 – The Palm Frond

Earlier in the pandemic, I went on a socially distanced walk with a friend and felt stressed out. Sometimes he was closer to me than six feet. Sometimes people walked between us. I decided that from that point forward, I only wanted to take walks with people in my germicule. That way we could navigate away front the viral vectors (ie other human beings) as one unit.

After our window greeting, my beau and I agreed to meet outside my place masked up. Being in Los Angeles it’s perhaps not so crazy that I noticed a pile of palm fronds in the alley. (I was told while I was away that the wind was blowing fiercely and probably knocked many-a-palm-frond to the ground.)

I picked up a palm frond and asked my boyfriend if he would hold one side of it while I held the other side. This not only would keep us the correct distance apart as we walked, I could feel the physical connection – like we were holding hands.

Once again – it worked! (We actually enjoyed looking a little odd to the public.) Also, no one would cut in between us unless they wanted to:

Or

Later in the week, my BFF also wanted to do a socially distanced walk. I asked if he had a walking staff at home. He didn’t, but he did have a cane. So this time, instead of a palm frond, we held a cane between us. It worked like a charm. (Again, no limbo-ers nor hurdlers separated us.)

I’ll write again soon and share with you a group of amazing individuals who helped me navigate my quarantine.